


Daily Drabble: Snanger Edition

by ArcadianDriftwood



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, Drinking Games, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gaudy Night, Gen, Gobstones (Harry Potter), Hair, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Humor, Latin, Lord Peter Wimsey - Freeform, Marriage Proposal, Mistaken Identity, Mother-Son Relationship, One Shot Collection, Protective Severus Snape, References to Jane Austen, Sentient Hogwarts, Severin Severin, Severus Snape Lives, Sexy potioneering, Teasing, Trichophilia, Unspeakable Severus Snape, Velvet Underground - Freeform, Wordcount: 100, Writing Exercise, divine comedy, inspired by Stubby Boardman, protective colleagues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22868965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcadianDriftwood/pseuds/ArcadianDriftwood
Summary: A collection of unrelated SSHG drabbles, updates daily-ish.
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Severus Snape, Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 30
Kudos: 74





	1. Apple

They moved together in their practiced, ancient dance, the foreknowledge of the other's next move only becoming the sweeter through anticipation. Snake and woman, tempter and innocent, cynic and ingenue, apple and lips. They savoured the freedom which permitted them to act out their parts in the little ego-drama. That freedom was nothing more or less than the grave knowledge that they were each infinitely more deep, more multifaceted, than their chosen role and that lightness of heart that reassured them that no crises of import depended on their actions.

"Tea, Granger?"  
"Why, thank you, Severus. Have a Jaffa cake."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews bring me life! If you have a prompt you'd like me to take a crack at, send it over, and I'll add it to my queue.


	2. Pompous

"-- of all the arrogant, pompous, self-important, misogynistic -"  
"Tell me, Madam, how do you really feel?"  
"I feel like I set the wrong Potions Master's robes on fire! If that slug thinks he can sit like a pasha on a litter of candied pineapple and singlehandedly take credit for this potion, he's got another thing coming. I spent six months refining the arithmantic equations that led to his precious 'unparalleled outcomes', double-checked them all using the Chaldean method, and I'll be damned if he waltzes off without giving me so much as a single measly acknowledgement!"  
"Wait, you set that fire?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments delight me! And I'm always open to new prompts - send 'em over and I'll add them to my queue. I'm also happy to expand any of these little drabbles to a longer work. ^_^


	3. Dither

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't terribly happy with the little offering I'd originally planned for today, so I'm skipping about a bit with my queue. This was originally Wednesday's drabble. Enjoy!

"Oh, Severus, did you put the veg on the hob?" Hermione tutted about the dining room, nervously wiping her palms on her apron. She began another circuit of the table, making minute adjustments to the spacing of the silverware and rotating one wineglass six degrees widdershins.  
"Yes, witch, stop dithering. Everything is lovely. The last time you were in their house, you were being sliced to ribbons on the drawing room floor. Narcissa has no justification for turning up her nose at our middle-class hospitality. But then, I'm just a Manc yob, middle-class hospitality was all we ever aspired to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and review! I'm always happy for new prompts - send them over and I'll jot something and add it to the queue. Great love, people. :)


	4. Pride

"...not Pride and Prejudice? Sense and Sensibility? You shock me, Mr. Snape."

Snape steepled his fingers and cocked an eyebrow at the bushy-haired witch before him. "Mansfield Park is...underappreciated. People dislike it because Fanny Price is so mild-tempered in comparison to Elizabeth Bennett, so restrained compared to Marianne Dashwood. That, though, is her strength. She gains her power through patience and forgiveness. Despite your Gryffindor boldness, you strike me as having a great deal in common with Fanny Price, Professor Granger. I have known other witches who were never so compassionate when their friends knowingly or unknowingly harmed them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is, of course, dedicated to the memory of Alan Rickman, whose dulcet voice breathed life into countless roles, including those of Severus Snape and Colonel Brandon.
> 
> Please indulge my Mansfield Park apologetics! I do truly believe, however, (as I've attempted to convey here) that Snape would share my love of this work for reasons of his own.
> 
> As always, reviews bring me life, and I'm always happy to accept prompts into my queue. Great love out there....


	5. Sapiens

"O Sapientia… veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae," she muttered, this prayer of her childhood faith as second-nature to her as any Point-Me incantation. How could wisdom dictate pursuing this friendship when it would never blossom into the love she desired? How could it be prudent to encourage feelings for a man who loved a dead woman?  
_But I was never a Ravenclaw. I cannot resign myself to merely acting wisely._ And so, screwing all her Gryffindor courage to the sticking-place, she knocked briskly on the door of the two-up, two-down on Spinner's End. "Happy Christmas, Severus! I've brought pudding!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Latin prayer Hermione recites translates to "O Wisdom, come and teach us the ways of prudence." It's a shortened form of the vespers antiphon for December 17th, the first of what are known as the seven Great O Antiphons, prayed the week preceding Christmas by Roman Catholics and other Christians in liturgical traditions. Many people have encountered the O Antiphons as they also appear in the popular carol "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".
> 
> Thank you all for continuing to read my little drabbles! Your reviews bring me such joy! If you have a prompt for me, I'd be delighted to take a crack at it. Great love out there...


	6. What did you...?

"Going somewhere, Granger?"  
"Yes! Home -- to my cat, my novel, and a rather nice rosé. It's what normal, dull people do over the weekend, Severus. Now, what did you…?"  
The man's lips pursed in irritation. "Riveting as your social life is, it does not change the fact that my stores of boomslang skin are depleted. You wouldn't have anything to say about that, would you?"  
She sighed. "Harry needs polyjuice for an upcoming raid. I filled out the chit; you'll have fresh delivered Monday to make up what I used."  
"Twenty years ago, your thefts were far more amusing. _Mrrow!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting comments and reviews brightens my day so much! Thank you so much for continuing to read these little bagatelles. I'm happy to try my hand at request prompts - just let me know! Great love... :)


	7. Supplement

"The curriculum really does need updating," Headmistress McGonagall sighed. "Miss Granger, Filius has already spoken to you about revising the Charms text as part of your Mastery thesis. Severus, though you've expressed your unwillingness to return as staff, would you consent to compile an official supplement to Borage's Advanced Potion-Making?"  
"Preferably without letting sixteen years olds loose with marginalia like 'sectumsempra'..." The younger witch sniffed primly.  
"Indeed, Miss Granger. Although I understand that Marietta Edgecombe still has a standing order for Merlin Brown's industrial grade concealer," said the older wizard acidly. "Perhaps even your own supplement would benefit from circumspection."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the lovely reviews! Please send me prompts if you have them - I'm always up for a challenge. Great love, friends!


	8. Plus One

He glanced over her shoulder. " _No._ That won't account for the house elves' lower body mass or their increased levels of latent cellular magic."  
"But I double-checked the efficacy of adding these ingredients using Pythagoras' Fourth Thaumaturgical Theorem! I don't…" Hermione growled in frustration.  
Snape gently pivoted her towards the cauldron. "It's not a matter of adding an ingredient. Halve the wormwood but adjust your stirring pattern to increase potency. _Here._ Three….plus one…"  
And she was lost to all but the feeling of his hand on hers, his voice counting in her ear, the rasp of the stirring rod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant hapus!
> 
> Thank you all for continuing to read these! They're a good exercise for me while I plot out a longer SSHG story. Do let me know if you've a short prompt for me! Your reviews and comments cheer me so much. Great love out there...


	9. Drains Well

"How's it coming?" George asked. Hermione slid over her lab notebook.  
_Attempt #17: Same base as #13, +4 drams stinksap. Odor's strong, potion drains well, colour still weak. Streeler slime? Cons: v. poisonous (neut. w/bezoar? might affect drainage. Also prohibitively expensive!)_  
"I'm sure you'll crack it, love. Skin-dying gobstones…. they'll be a great addition to our line. I've got to ask, though. Why your sudden foray into game development?"  
"It's a present, a bribe, really. If there's one thing Lavender and Ron have taught me, it's that the way to a man's heart is through his mum's good graces."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love seeing your comments - they cheer me up greatly! Thank you for reading!


	10. Unicorn

Hermione pulled a stack of novels from her well-worn bag. "Morning, professor! I thought we might start some fiction. _Wuthering Heights_? _North and South_? _Barchester Towers_?" She glanced at the unconscious man on the hospital cot, his neck swathed in unicorn-hair bandages. "Perhaps if I choose something you hate enough, you'll wake up from sheer spite to throw me out."

”...He turned, as he spoke, a peculiar look in her direction: a look of hatred; unless he has a most perverse set of facial muscles --"  
" _Tripe._ " grated a quiet voice.  
The book thudded to the floor. "Madam Pomfrey! He's awake!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came across this sentence from Wuthering Heights, and it seemed too perfect not to include in a Snape oneshot. The trope of Hermione reading to Severus as he recuperates is one of my absolute favourites. Thank you for sticking with me - it's such a delight to see your comments and reviews. If you've got a prompt idea, please send it my way, I'm happy to take a crack at it. Great love out there...


	11. Proposal

"Professor Granger, I would like you to wear this on the next raid." Severus placed a small velvet box on the desk. Hermione opened it, eyes widening slightly at the elegant Edwardian filigree ring within. "It has a few drops of superconcentrated Stunning Solution, and a pressure-activated spike - if you're disarmed, you need only backhand your attacker. After what nearly happened last time, any advantage is invaluable."  
As Hermione prepared to slide the ring onto her right hand, Unspeakable Snape deftly took it from her and slid it gently onto the fourth finger of her left hand. "Placetne, Magistra?"  
"Placet."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness me, I'm terribly sorry for my absence. It's not my intention to abandon my little drabble postings. There was a death in my immediate family last month, and then the growing pandemic has rather overwhelmed my grief and anxiety.
> 
> Many thanks to sharkeygirl for her proposal prompt! This drabble, I think I can confidently say, *will* be expanded upon in a larger SSHG work I'm plotting out. "Placetne, Magistra?" / "Placet." is of course, a reference to the greatest literary marriage proposal ever - Peter Wimsey to Harriet Vane in Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night. While Snape is no Lord Peter, I like to imagine he would eventually hold the same respect and esteem for his academically-minded lady-love. The Latin translates to: "Does it please you, Mistress [as in female master-of-arts, an academic title]?" "It pleases." The "-ne" suffix implies that the asker is confidently expecting an affirmative answer - it's a rather elegantly phrased exchange, but then, Dorothy Sayers was one of the first women to get a degree from Oxford and had a mind like the Bodleian itself!


	12. "Beer's here!"

"Beer's here!" George Weasley threw open the door of Grimmauld Place and assisted Snape as he rolled in the keg of homebrew. Pints were poured, the volume of the party increasing exponentially as alcohol was imbibed.

"I sconce anyone who's ever fancied the birthday girl!" George crowed. Hermione blushed scarlet, burying her face in her hands. Around the room, Ron and Percy drank, to the disapprobation of their wives and the ribbing of their friends, and Padma Patil let out a whoop before taking a gulp.

No one noticed as the black-clad potioneer raised his glass and drained it dry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this! Many thanks for the kudos and the lovely comments - they warm my heart! Great love out there...


	13. Fridge

Hermione blew her nose with an impressive trumpet. She started to return the soggy handkerchief, then embarassedly tucked it into her pocket. "I'll give it a wash and return it. Thank you so much -- I'm sorry for breaking down. I just miss them dreadfully."  
Snape coughed awkwardly. "Obscene quantities of ice cream and wine are customary…?"  
"Oh! Yes! Check the kitchen? I'll wash my face."  
The older man padded over to the fridge. As he searched inside, his hand brushed a paper bag labeled "Dead Ashwinder: Do Not Eat!". He peeked in and blinked. "I…. don't know what I expected."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What can I say... social distancing cabin fever is beginning to erode my sanity.
> 
> Thank you all for your lovely comments. I promise that tomorrow, we'll return to somewhat more conventional fare! Great love, friends!


	14. Slut

"Severus? Dad? What are you up to?"  
Hermione's eyes narrowed as her father started guiltily and her husband smoothly stepped between her and the table.  
"Nothing, flower. Just some brewing--"  
"--Father-son bonding--"  
Hermione sniffed. "Is that _insecticide_?"  
Her father, at least, had the decency to look abashed. Severus set his jaw, however. "That beetle…"  
"For the last time, I don't care what the bint writes! Anyone who actually believes 'Hermione Granger: Scholar or Slut?' is an idiot. And while I appreciate the sentiment, I _don't_ need the two of you defending my honour. Now, pack up and come to dinner!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your life-giving comments! Do let me know if you've got a specific prompt you'd like me to take a crack at. Great love out there...


	15. Volcano

" _Calceolaria dentata grangerensis._ "  
She examined the bouquet he handed her. The flowers had golden upturned lips with fluffy amber-frilled corollas.  
“It’s a new volcanic hybrid... if Professor Longbottom and I are correct, the root will act as an anticatalyst in your Contracruciatus Curative.”  
Hermione smiled radiantly. “Oh, Se--Professor Snape, I can’t tell you how much this means to me - to the patients! You will help, won’t you? I wouldn’t trouble you, but you helped cultivate this; you should be there for the brewing results.”  
As she started preparations, the older wizard smirked, assured of at least a week with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a result of having inna_chy's hilarious little oneshot 'May Flowers' bouncing around in my head. Drop what you're doing and read it - I cried laughing.  
> A bit about my fictional hybrid: calceolaria dentata itself is a real, and quite lovely, plant. Calceolaria is known colloquially as "lady's slipper", and the roots of some variants are used for nerve complaints. The dentata species is found (I believe) only in Andean volcanic soil; it has broad leaves fringed with little toothed spikes. As described, the grangerensis hybrid has a frilly upper corolla that might almost look like a certain witch's hair...  
> Great love, my friends!


	16. Visio Beatifica

He had thought Lily to be his Beatrice, but now he knew she was merely his Virgil. Lily's memory guided him through the hell of war, and then on that terrible day, he had stared into Lily's -- Harry's -- eyes and experienced a final catharsis. During the following purgatory of physical healing, he made peace and consigned her to his past.  
It was Hermione, so like-unlike lovely Lily, that held his future happiness. Hermione, with her insatiable mind, her bushy, preraphaelite hair, her generosity of spirit, would guide him to the easy, blessed joy he'd assumed would be forever denied him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those not quite up on their 14th century Tuscan verse, this little drabble references Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy) - a very long narrative poem in which Dante is shown about hell and purgatory by the poet Virgil (author of the Aeneid) and then is taken around Heaven (poor old V can't get in, virtuous pagan that he is) by his dead girlfriend Beatrice (who in actuality, he met exactly twice in his life, the first time when they were nine,) who died in her twenties.  
> 'Visio Beatifica', of course, refers to the 'Beatific Vision', the ultimate communion of God with each individual person. Dante's speculations on what this might be like form the end of the Commedia.  
> If you look at Dante Rossetti's (named for, but no relation, to Alighieri! He was actually the brother of poet Christina Rossetti.) painting Beata Beatrix (Blessed Beatrice) she (like many such preraphaelite ladies) has this lovely enormous bushy hair that I imagine a more mature Hermione really embracing.  
> Also, nota bene, I'm choosing to spell it 'Virgil' rather than 'Vergil' quite deliberately here -- Virgil echoes the Latin word for wand, 'uirga'. If Virgil was taught at all at Hogwarts, surely his magical prowess would be emphasized!


	17. Exasperation

Her awful hair shed simply everywhere, despite her efforts to contain it in buns or under scarves. Severus was forever plucking umber-chestnut strands from his knife roll, unwinding them from stirring rods, brushing them out of cauldrons where they matted into dusty snarls. He would growl that he'd be able to polyjuice Lancashire if this kept up, and she would apologetically duck her head, flyaways glinting. In exasperation, he crafted a spell to remove Granger's hair from his laboratory, and if the strands formed into a slowly-fattening braid in his bedside table drawer, that was nobody's business but his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness gracious, let's see if I can possibly finish this drabble series this time around. Many thanks to anyone still sticking around to read these - your comments bring me joy beyond measure! Great love out there...


	18. Pertinent

"...and you see, even tabloid rags occasionally, accidentally, report something worthwhile, so I started trawling the muggle papers. And here you are!" The bushy-haired young woman exultantly thrust a battered clipping from the Express at her frustrated and bewildered interlocutor.  
" 'Heavily-bandaged John Cale spotted in Bangor' - how is this pertinent to anything? The man in this photograph is clearly too young to be Cale, but he's obviously not me, either. Do you always force your crackpot theories upon recuperating strangers?"  
"I'll bet a dozen galleons that if you'd drop your little glamour, it'd be a perfect likeness, Professor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NB: John Cale, who's about 12 years older than Snape, is a supremely talented Welsh multi-instrumentalist best known for his work with the Velvet Underground. Check out pictures of him in his youth and you may see a resemblance...can't you just imagine Severus with an electric viola?
> 
> Again, my apologies for the long absence! I'd be immensely grateful to anyone who decides to check out the one-shot I put up today, too. 
> 
> Comments and reviews give me life - I'm always open for prompts, too. Great love out there, friends!


	19. The Ninth Day

On the first day they worked together, she lost her temper and threw a billywig sting at him.  
On the second day, he snuck her Babbling Beverage before a meeting.  
On the third day, they called a truce.  
On the fourth day, she refilled his coffee.  
On the fifth day, he said she wasn't completely inept.  
On the sixth day, she hexed the intern who called him a traitor.  
On the seventh day, he said she might as well join him for lunch.  
On the eighth day, they met for dinner.

On the ninth day, they were late to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this! Comments and reviews give me life. <3 And I'm always open to take prompts!
> 
> If you've got a moment, do check out the funny little horror story I put up. Happy Spooktober!
> 
> Great love out there....


	20. Ask Her

Severus' nose hairs attempted to crawl back into his skull as Sybill's sherry-laden breath rolled over him. "I foretell the consummation of an intimate yearning!"

Pomona and Rolanda flanked him, the former nudging him suggestively, the latter clapping him about the shoulders. "Yule Ball's coming!" "Get a move on, boyo!"

In the staffroom, Minerva smiled archly. "I've fifteen galleons riding on you."

"You really ought to ask her. We all want to see you happy." Filius added, sipping his absinthe. 

"But what if she says no?"

"Then Professor Granger will have a century of night patrols for trifling with our lad."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and review! If you've got a prompt for me, I'd be happy to take a crack at it! Great love...


	21. Proximity

Hogwarts Castle was more sentient than the average lofty pile of architecture, and was wont to pick favourites. Usually it was fairly subtle in the ways it showed its partiality - when Severus was being bullied as a student, he could have sworn that the castle swapped wet-slicked flagstones out of his path under the feet of his pursuers. This, however, was getting out of hand.

"We do actually have to work in here, you know," he snapped tersely, trying desperately not to think about the way Granger's warm body was pressed up against him in the newly closet-sized laboratory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NB: The charming phrase "lofty pile of architecture" is taken from the painter Thomas Cole's description of his work "The Voyage of Life: Youth". If it can apply to something as fantastical as a cloud palace, surely it's also apropos for Hogwarts Castle!
> 
> Many thanks to everyone who's left comments and reviews - they really brighten my day! And if you've got a prompt for me, do send it over! Great love out there...


End file.
